Board Members

President

Johnita Jones is the Texas Conference for Women board president and the ExxonMobil Midstream Americas Engineering Manager. She received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Texas A&M University in 1983. She began work as a facilities engineer with Exxon Company, U.S.A, in Harvey, Louisiana. Since that time, she worked in oil and gas engineering assignments including corrosion applications, project engineering and reservoir analysis. Jones began her supervisory responsibilities in 1989 and has managed teams in production facility surveillance, project engineering and operations management. From 2001 to 2016, she served as Pipeline Risk and Integrity Manager for ExxonMobil Pipeline Company where she was responsible for execution and stewardship of programs to ensure pipeline fitness for service for over 6,000 miles of pipe in the United States. In her current assignment, she oversees engineering activities for ExxonMobil pipelines, fuels, and lubes operations in the U.S., Canada, and South America. Prior community activities include participation on the Houston Children’s Museum advisory board and as a member of the board of directors of the Lighthouse of Houston.

Norine Yukon

Director

NORINE YUKON is the former CEO of UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Texas and currently serves as a board member and strategic adviser for health care corporations. Her comprehensive experience in the health care industry includes executive responsibility for large commercial and public-sector health plans across the country. She is a lecturer for universities, and has been appointed by several governors to various task forces, advisory committees and transition teams for health and human services. In addition to the Texas Conference for Women board of directors, she also serves on the Meals on Wheels Central Texas board of directors, the Hand In-Home Care board of directors, the advisory council for The University of Texas School of Nursing, The Texas Exes Council, the selection committee for Ethics in Business and Community award, and as an adviser to The University of Texas Center for Transdisciplinary Collaborative Research in Self-Management Science. Yukon grew up in Texas, Bermuda and Tokyo. She graduated from The University of Texas School of Nursing, and practiced in an inpatient setting for 10 years. Her clinical interest and her passionate advocacy for patients and consumers continued to drive her as she became a leader in the managed care industry. Yukon is now dedicated to developing systems that empower consumers to take charge of their own health care.

Sabrina T. Brown

Director

SABRINA BROWN has over 20 years’ worth of hands-on experience in Texas government and politics. She offers valuable strategic counsel to a broad spectrum of clients. Brown’s extensive expertise in the state’s legislative, regulatory, public affairs and appropriations arenas, combined with her strong bipartisan relationships, provides businesses and organizations with vital political and governmental guidance. She has consistently been recognized by Capitol Inside as one of the top lobbyists in Texas. Prior to opening her own practice, Brown was a lobbyist for an Austin-based law firm, and previously spent a half-dozen years at the Capitol, working for the Texas House of Representatives. Brown currently serves on the boards of Dell Children’s Medical Center Foundation, West Austin Youth Association, Beyond Batten Disease Foundation, the Seton Development Board and the Texas Conference for Women. Brown earned an M.A. in public affairs at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas and her bachelor’s degree at Texas A&M University.

Bobbi Dangerfield

Director

Bobbi Dangerfield is a Senior Vice President at Dell where she oversees the company’s Global Business Operations team, supporting a 40,000-member sales organization across more than 70 countries. In her role, Bobbi is responsible for enabling sales productivity, business growth and customer experience while driving operational excellence and flawless execution. Bobbi also serves as North America co-chair of the Dell Women in Search of Excellence (Wise) employee resource group, which focuses on enabling women to grow and thrive through networking, leadership and expertise. She previously initiated Wise chapters in Malaysia and El Salvador. Additionally, Bobbi is a member of the Dell Global Diversity Council, helping drive diversity initiatives throughout the company in partnership with Council Chair Michael Dell.

She has more than 20 years of experience in Information Systems, Customer Service and Customer Relationship Management (CRM). She received her BBA in Business Computer Information Systems from Dallas Baptist University and her MBA from Southern Methodist University. She is a member of the board of directors for Dress for Success Austin, Texas Conference for Women and serves on the Susan G. Komen Austin Affiliate Advisory Board. Bobbi lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband, Elmer and has 2 grown children, Paige and Tyler.

Carol McGarah

Director

Carol McGarah, CEO of Blackridge, a Texas government relations firm, has worked in the Texas political arena since 1991. Her extensive background, proven work ethic, and respected relationships, positions her as a valuable asset to companies, associations, individuals and public entities needing governmental and regulatory counsel.

McGarah is widely recognized as an expert in environmental policy and law, stemming from her work as the Director of the powerful Senate Natural Resources Committee from 1991 – 2001. In this position, she gained valuable knowledge working on legislation involving air, water, waste, oil and gas, and agriculture, and was instrumental in the conception, development and passage of groundbreaking water and air-emission legislation. Ten years of Capitol experience provided her the expertise necessary to successfully maneuver the nuanced legislative and regulatory process.

Since starting her lobby career in 2001, McGarah has expanded her areas of expertise to include economic development, education, energy, finance, transportation, insurance, retail operations, municipal government, and real estate development. Often tapped to develop and lead strategic legislative and regulatory campaigns, McGarah brings a successful track record to her wide variety of clients.

Carla Piñeyro Sublett

Director

CARLA PIÑEYRO SUBLETT is senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Rackspace. All of her work, in marketing, sales, and non-profit organizations, is fueled by an unwavering commitment to make a difference in the lives of the people that she works with, the customers she serves and the community that she lives in. In her current role, she is responsible for Rackspace’s global marketing strategy, from branding to demand generation. It’s important to her that customers understand the unique value Rackspace provides in the enterprise cloud market. With her background in architecture and design, in addition to more than 15 years of sales and marketing leadership experience, she understands how important it is to focus on simplicity and usability when building a market strategy.

Change does not happen overnight. It takes patience and persistence to make a difference. As a leader, this means asking the tough questions, pushing beyond limiting beliefs, and exploring new opportunities. Her belief is, when you build a strong foundation and articulate your vision clearly so your team knows where you’re going, you can achieve results far beyond even your own expectations.
Throughout her career, she has experienced first-hand the power of mentorship and now actively pays it forward as a mentor and board member of The Thinkery, Austin Community Foundation and Texas Conference for Women and became a Henry Crown Fellow in 2016/

Prior to Rackspace, Sublett distinguished herself in several leadership roles in sales and marketing at Dell. Most recently, she served as executive director of marketing for Dell Latin America, where she managed all facets of marketing through all channels: digital, offline, retail and value-added resellers. In this role, she helped drive record pipeline and conversion metrics in the region, while doubling marketing’s contribution to the business. While at Dell, she was named one of the Top 50 Influential Hispanics by HispanicBusiness.com, and was given the Young Hispanic Corporate Achiever award by the Hispanic Association of Corporate Responsibility. @rackspace

Comments from last year's attendees

I am a Women's Conference convert! I have long avoided attended 'gender-focused' forums - perceiving they actually hurt equal opportunities. However - the TX Women's Conference is so well done - designed with care, relevance and diversity.